Hey oliverbox I was looking over your command structure again and it looks like you left an officer out. How about Major Ghostrider? He should probably replace Ace as XO. Also, why did you choose Hawk as the overall commander when he's only a Brig Gen and Joe Colton is a four star? Is your choice based on personal preference or something from the comics?

Hey man, sorry for the delay in answering. I'm out of town for the holiday. I'm having a blast, but there's not a lot of access to a computer... which in a way can be really nice.

About Ghostrider, I think Ace was promoted in some of his later file cards. Besides that, my brother was an Air Force pilot, and so the Joe's Air Force is up to him. He likes Ace, always has, so that's who we went with. About Hawk, well... he's the commander in the Marvel Comics after Gen. Flagg dies. Also, we liked the Idea of Gen. Colton running Special Ops. He was always a little more off the books in the old Marvel run, so to use him as the Commander of Special Ops seemed fitting. I just couldn't see anyone else as the overall commander but Hawk.

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Why aren't there more Joes from the Deep South?
And would it kill Hasbro to give us a Marine Corps Officer?

That's true. I just found out that Beachhead is listed as a Green Beret on the Convention exclusive. But I imagine once you become a Green Beret wouldn't that be your calling card from that point? Of course then how do we explain Duke?

Being a Ranger is primarily a qualification: you wear a Ranger tab. There is, of course, the 75th Ranger Regiment, but compared to the number of Ranger qualified soldiers, the number of Rangers in the Regiment is small. All Rangers in the Regiment are Infantrymen. Rangers are just the best of the Infantry.

Special Forces is a branch in the Army; it's an MOS - 18 series.
It is a qualification, but it's not like you just go to SF school and then go back to your regular unit like with Ranger School. Once you become SF qualified, you're going to be in a SF Group.

Flint, Duke, Beach-Head, and whoever else is qualfied as both Rangers and Green Berets are dual qualfied as far as thier schooling and the tabs they wear. They may each have done time in the Ranger Regiment. However, because they are all SF, that should be thier main indicator. 60% of all SF soldiers are Ranger Qualified.

Troynos, I think Falcon, especially because he's an officer, should be considered a Ranger. I believe Hit & Run is also a Ranger as is Muskrat and Dart.

Snake-Eyes and Storm Shadow are both certainly Rangers, but no certainty for SF qualification for either of them or Stalker... it's never mentioned. I'm also unconvinced of Dial-Tone's status as a Ranger. Beret colors were notoriously erroneous in the 80's figures. I don't think it's a reliable indicator at all. LRRP training did not make a soldier a Green Beret. Rather, the term conferred for a graduate of LRRP School was "Recondo".

G.I. Joe should not be thought of as Special Forces. It works much more like Delta Force. It's the best of the best, but sometimes the members are recruited for unique reasons. A little over 60% of Delta Force are Green Berets... the rest come from other back grounds. Many are Rangers, but some are there for different reasons. In a unit like that, you don't just need excellent Airborne Infantry troops... if all you have is a hammer, everything starts to look like a nail. Sometimes a unit that special need finese and special skill.

As for Duke and Beach-Head. They are both Senior NCO's. After a couple of tours in SF, they could have requested to go back to the Ranger Regiment and work as Infantry NCO's. They are certainly qualified. Both were allegedly Training NCO's at Ranger School (RI's - Ranger Instructors). Because those units are both under Special Ops Command, that would have worked - and Duke and Beach-Head could have worn their Green Berets as Ranger NCO's.

Sorry I've been absent for a few days. I'm out of town, but I'll be home soon. Good to hear from everybody.

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Why aren't there more Joes from the Deep South?
And would it kill Hasbro to give us a Marine Corps Officer?

Green Berets are a branch of the Special Operations, like the Rangers and other regiments.

I always assumed that all members of the Joe team came from some form of Special Operations (rangers, green berets, seals, etc..) and not just the regular army, navy or air force (Marines are special forces equivalent).

Force Recon Marines are certainly Special Forces Equivalent...
The Regular Marines just like to think they're Special Forces. They're no more elite than the Army's Airborne Divisions (173rd, 82nd & 101st)... and the Rangers would eat them for breakfast.

I don't think all the members of the Joe team came out of Special Operations units originally. Some certainly did, but others were found in regular line units. I think "G.I. Joe: Declassified" shows that pretty well.

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Why aren't there more Joes from the Deep South?
And would it kill Hasbro to give us a Marine Corps Officer?

In reading some old posts and catching up, no one included Airborne in their Air Assult teams, can I ask why? Also, I don't do much with teams, but if I did, Shockwave with his SWAT doorbusting experience would be on every Urban Strike squad and Urban Search and Rescue squad I put together...Then of course he is also the leader of the Joe inter-faith choir also

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Just when I thought I was done...HASBRO DRAGGED ME BACK IN!!! Looking for Pursuit of Cobra Low-Light, Shock Trooper, wave 3 Snake Eyes, and Blowtorch

My air assault squads always include Airborne, I "up" his qualifications and make him at least an Airborne Ranger. His card just says Airborne Infantry, not even ranger qualified. With that being the case, someone like Flint, Sky Dive, Beachhead are better qualified then poor ol' Airborne.

I've always loved Airborne, so he gets much love from me.

I tend to treat Airborne and Hit & Run the same. They are both Ranger qualified and helicopter assault troopers.

Crazylegs should be part of that, but I've always treated him as a HALO jumper, cause that's the gear and outfit he came with.

I don't think all the members of the Joe team came out of Special Operations units originally. Some certainly did, but others were found in regular line units. I think "G.I. Joe: Declassified" shows that pretty well.

Yeah, out of the original 13; only Stalker, Snake-Eyes, Hawk, Clutch and Scarlett were SF.

My air assault squads always include Airborne, I "up" his qualifications and make him at least an Airborne Ranger. His card just says Airborne Infantry, not even ranger qualified. With that being the case, someone like Flint, Sky Dive, Beachhead are better qualified then poor ol' Airborne.

I've always loved Airborne, so he gets much love from me.

I tend to treat Airborne and Hit & Run the same. They are both Ranger qualified and helicopter assault troopers.

Crazylegs should be part of that, but I've always treated him as a HALO jumper, cause that's the gear and outfit he came with.

I treat both Airborne and Hit & Run the same as well as the rest of the Sky Patrol Guys who aren't Rangers. But Hit & Run is not part of my air Assault team. I figure he most likely is 10th Mountain Division.

I use Airborne mainly as a Helicopter Gunner. He stays with the bird and provides fire cover. Oh, and since when was Clutch Special Forces or do you mean SOF? I must have missed something in previous posts because it's not in his file cards.

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"We make a stand now or there will be nobody left to go to the choppa!" --Major Alan "Dutch" Schaefer